The chemical process industry (CPI) is one example of an industry where simulation tools have long been used to aid in mathematically modeling a process and its unit operations from first principles. Today, numerous process simulation systems (e.g., Honeywell UNISIM, HYSYS, Aspen OTS, Shadow Plant, Fantoft, etc.) exist that are able to perform steady-state and dynamic simulations. These simulations often lead to optimizations and improvement throughout a plant lifecycle, which includes a conceptual design stage, a plant design stage, control implementation stage, procedure development stage, operator training stage, and a production stage.
An ideal user base for process simulation systems includes control engineering personnel. Unfortunately, conventional process simulation systems have been relatively difficult to use, especially dynamic systems, which have resulted in a need for simulation specialist to operate the simulation systems.